Chapter 95: The Heart's Desire: Part Seven

I Don't Own Ben 10 Or Any Of The Characters

Author's Note:

* Hello and welcome to Chapter Ninety Five! This is the chapter where this entire arc will come around full circle. I promise that you aren't going to want to miss this one!

* So, for the chapters that I release today, there will be no review responses, as I won't have any to respond to.

* I won't give anything away here. So, that being said, let's get right down into the chapter!

Ben

Ben's House

Later That Day

I had been back from the Bellwood Post's building for about a couple hours now. I was really itching to confront Albedo about our rocky relationship. He had been giving me death stares all day today and yesterday, and I was sick of it. I threw the book I had been reading across the room out of frustration.

I got up off the bed and walked out into the hallway. I walked past the living room and towards the basement stairs. I walked down the stairs and into the basement. I marched over to the basement couch, where Albedo was watching T.V. all by himself.

"Hey!" I said in an angry tone.

He didn't answer.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" I exclaimed.

He still didn't answer me.

"Albedo, God damn it, answer me!" I exclaimed.

"Alright, alright!" he exclaimed as he looked up at me. "What do you want anyway?"

"I want you to stop pretending that I don't exist!" I said. "And I want you to be my friend again!"

"No way, man!" he said as he got up from the couch. "You fucked up! You should have thought of that before Gwen dumped you!"

My temper flared as I heard him say that.

"You think that I don't know that?!" I exclaimed with anger. "I genuinely thought that what I was doing was for the best! How could I have known that trying to be Alien Guy all the time would lead to Gwen dumping me?!"

Albedo just scoffed.

"Yeah, sure." He said in a sarcastic tone.

That made me even angrier for reasons that I didn't know.

"Fuck you." I said.

"What did you just say?" he asked.

"You heard me." I said.

"I want to hear you say it." He said.

"Fuck you." I repeated myself. "Who are you to tell me all of this?"

"I'm the guy trying to make you see the error of your ways." Albedo said.

That sent me over the edge. I grabbed Albedo by the collar of his shirt and picked him up with virtually no difficulty. I walked him over to the wall and slammed his back into it.

"Ow, what the hell, man?!" he exclaimed.

"You have no idea what kind of shit I've been going through!" I exclaimed. "Here I am thinking I've lost my sanity and on top of that, I'm trying to figure out how I can win my ex-girlfriend back! So, don't tell me how you think it is!"

I slammed him up against the wall once again.

"Alright, alright!" he exclaimed. "I'll quit ignoring you! Just put me down!"

"Wise choice." I said as I dropped him on his ass.

"Oh, come on!" he exclaimed as he rubbed his now likely sore ass.

I turned around and began to walk away from him.

"Ben?" Albedo asked with confusion.

I turned my head to look at him.

"Come let me know when you want to be friends again." I said.

I walked up the stairs and out of the basement without another word.

The Next Morning

I don't know what kind of dream I was having or if I was even dreaming in the first place. But I do know that it was interrupted. I was woken up at about eight o'clock the next morning by the sound of singing in my room. Mom, Dad, Sunny and Albedo were standing in the room with the light flipped on, singing happy birthday to me.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear Benjamin!" they all sang in unison. "Happy birthday to you!"

"Cha, cha, cha!" Albedo exclaimed as the singing came to a close.

Oh, right. It's my birthday. Therefore, it's Gwen's birthday, too, I thought. I guess I was so mentally stressed and emotionally damaged that I forgot all about it.

"Wow." I said as I sat up in my bed. "This is different."

Albedo just chuckled along with Dad.

"Happy Birthday, son!" Mom said as she handed me a cupcake with green icing on it, as well as a single lit green candle in it. "I can't believe you're already eighteen!"

I took the cupcake from Mom as she handed it to me.

"Make a wish, Ben!" Dad said.

I blew out the candle without a second thought.

"What'd you wish for?" Sunny asked.

I looked up at them.

"I, uh, don't know." I said.

"Sure, you do!" Albedo said. "Now, what'd you wish for?"

I thought about it. I wanted to say that I just wanted to get back together with Gwen, but everyone knew that. But then, something popped into my head. I had favored a life without the Omnitrix before Clancy went on his killing spree. If I had never found the Omnitrix, none of this would ever have happened. Albedo, Sunny, my relationship with Gwen even. All of it wouldn't exist.

The only problem I had with it was that Gwen and I would never have gotten together, but other than that, I loved the idea.

I wish that I had never found the Omnitrix, I thought to myself.

I almost said it, but Dad beat me to it.

"Now, now, you two." He said. "Don't you know if you tell someone what you wished for, that wish will never come true?"

Dad had a point.

"Alright, alright." Albedo gave up. "We won't pry. Will we, Sunny?"

Sunny just stared off into space. Her gaze finally fell onto me.

"Many happy returns to you on this day, Ben." She said at last.

"Thanks." I said.

She nodded at me with a blank expression on her face.

"Happy Birthday, pal." Dad said as he beamed at me.

I smiled for the first time in a while.

"Thanks, Dad!" I said.

He nodded at me.

"Okay, everyone. Let's leave Ben alone for a while." Mom said. "Today's a big day. He's got lots to do before his birthday party this afternoon."

Everyone did as she said and soon enough, my room was empty again. I sighed as I got up to go use the shower.

Several Hours Later

It was party time. Or so I was told. Besides Grandpa Max, Mom, Dad, Sunny and Albedo being here, the house felt silent and lifeless. Albedo and I sat next to each other on the couch in silence, as Sunny stood in front of us, trying to get us to speak.

"Come on, guys!" she said. "Let's play some Xbox or something! This house feels dead with all this silence!"

"Yeah," I said. "That's because it is."

"Ben, it's your birthday!" she said. "What do you want to do?"

I looked up at Sunny.

"I can ask for anything?" I said.

"Yes!" Sunny said.

"Then I wish to be left alone." I said as I looked back down.

"But, it's your birthday!" she said. "You should be doing something that you enjoy!"

"I am doing something that I enjoy right now." I said. "That is, if you'd let me enjoy it."

"But you're not being fair to yourself!" Sunny said.

"I'm not being fair to myself? I'm doing exactly what I want to do." I said. "You're the one who's not being fair with me."

"Ben…" Sunny said, but I interrupted.

"Go away." I said.

She sighed and walked out of the room after that. And after that, I went back to thinking to myself in silence.

One Hour Later

I had just blown out the candles on my cake when I heard the knock at the door.

"I'll get that." I said as I got up from the table.

I walked through the living room, to the front door and opened it, and was more or less surprised to see Gwen standing there.

"Gwen!" I exclaimed with surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Gwen blushed bright pink.

"Hi, Ben." She said. "Can I come in? We need to talk."

"Oh, um, of course!" I said as I moved out of the way, so she could come in and get out of the cold.

Once she was inside and had closed the door behind her, she turned to look at me.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked.

Gwen blushed once again.

"Um, can we talk somewhere in private, perhaps?" she asked.

I nodded.

"We can go down to the basement." I said. "It's quiet down there."

"Lead the way." She said.

And so, I did. We walked into the kitchen, where everyone was giving us smiles, which caused me to blush. Nevertheless, we walked past them and into the basement. Once we were down in the basement, we stood a few feet apart from each other, with Gwen leaning against the couch and I standing across from her.

"So?" I asked.

She looked down at the floor for a few seconds before she met my eyes with hers.

"We need to talk about what you did the other day." She said. "It wasn't cool of you just to run out on me like that."

I sighed.

"Yeah, well you said a lot of hurtful things that day Gwen." I said. "And all of the guilt I felt from "not cheating on you" and all the stress I had around me caused me to buckle. I had to get out."

"You could have stayed." Gwen said. "I would have listened to your problems."

I didn't say anything in return. We just stood there in silence for a while. I finally worked up the guts to speak.

"Look, Gwen…" I started to speak, only to get interrupted.

"Don't." she said, without looking up at me.

"Don't what?" I asked with confusion.

"Don't say you're sorry. I'm sick of hearing you say it." She said, still not looking up at me. "You have nothing to be sorry for, so don't say it."

I looked down at the floor. Something wasn't right about the way Gwen was acting.

"Gwen, tell me something." I said. "You didn't come here to have this specific conversation, did you?"

Gwen looked up at me and then away from me.

"No." she said.

"Then why are you really here?" I asked.

She remained quiet.

"Gwen?" I asked.

She looked up at me and it looked like she were about to cry.

"Gwen, what is it?" I asked with concern.

She sniffled as the tears began to run down her cheeks.

"I am such a bitch!" she said.

"Ah!" I gasped with shock.

"I should never have broken up with you!" she said. "I should have supported you from the very beginning! All you were doing was what you thought was right!"

"Gwen?" I asked with confusion.

"I came here to ask you if you would take me back!" she said as the tears streamed down her cheeks. "But after I hurt you, I don't know why you would take me back!"

I stepped forward and pulled her into a hug. She buried her face into my chest and cried into it.

"I'm such a horrible person!" she exclaimed.

"You are not a horrible person." I reassured her. "I don't hold a grudge against you."

She removed her face from my chest and looked up at me.

"Ben, would you take me back? Even after all the things I've done to you?" she asked. "We both know that I can't live without you!"

I smiled at her.

"Gwen, you don't even have to ask!" I said.

She let out a gasp of relief upon hearing me say that.

"Please, Ben." She said. "Can we just go on and pretend that our breakup didn't happen?"

"I would love that." I said immediately.

She closed her eyes and then opened them once again and she stared up at me with a smile on her face, her eyes gleaming happily.

"Kiss me?" she asked.

"You don't even have to ask." I said to her with a smile on my face.

She smiled up at me, before I pulled her into a kiss, which she gladly accepted. As we kissed, I used my fingers to gently wipe away her tears. This is what I wanted for my birthday. Eventually, we both pulled away and just held each other.

"Oh, by the way, happy eighteenth birthday, Gwen." I said.

She chuckled.

"You too, Ben." She said.

"Did you get what you wanted for your birthday?" I asked.

"Yeah," Gwen said. "I think I did."

"Me, too." I said as I rubbed her back. "Me, too."

Five Minutes Later

Gwen and I both walked into the kitchen, holding hands. As soon as we entered, Albedo and Sunny immediately noticed that we were holding hands. Albedo shot up out of his chair.

"You guys are holding hands?!" he exclaimed. "Did you get back together?! Please tell me you guys got back together!"

I chuckled at his response to seeing us together.

"You can rest assured that we're back together, Albedo." I said as Gwen squeezed my hand with hers. "We decided to give our relationship another try."

"Oh, awesome!" Sunny said as her eyes lit up. "I'm so happy for you guys!"

I chuckled once more.

"Coming from you, that means a lot, Sunny." I said. "Thanks."

Mom turned to look at us.

"Well, that's good news!" she said. "It's time to cut the cake! Everyone get ready!"

Gwen and I walked into the living room, still hand in hand, to sit down on the couch. We sat down on the couch and Gwen rested her head on my shoulder. I was back to happiness. And then it happened. There was the sound of glass shattering that came from the kitchen.

Everyone, Gwen and I included, rushed to get into the kitchen. It was a mess. The entire area around Mom's feet was caked with ruined chocolate cake and shards of glass. She turned around to face us, clutching her stomach as if she were in pain.

"Sandra?" Dad asked with notable fear in his voice. "Honey, what is it?"

Mom looked up at Dad.

"Carl, I think my water just broke!" she said. "I think the baby's coming!"

Author's Note:

* And that's it for this chapter! I hope that you guys like the cliffhanger! I also hope you guys are glad that Ben and Gwen are back together.

* The next chapter will be the last chapter of this arc and it'll be a big one. I won't say anything else. Anyway, I'm going to go though, so have a Bwen-tastic day and bye!

Next Chapter: Against his mother's wishes, Ben goes out into the city to fight crime. In all of the confusion, Ben's little sister is born.